


"Ten Days in a Mad House"

by writetheniteaway



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Abuse, Asylum, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 15,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writetheniteaway/pseuds/writetheniteaway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katherine decides to expose the treatment of the insane by pretending to be one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a hard decision, what she was more nervous about; the assignment or telling him about it. If she were going to be honest, the idea of what she’d been asked to do actually excited her. She’d always been interested in what happened behind the doors of the asylums, and if they ran anything like the rest of this city there was certainly a story to be found.

She knew he wasn’t going to like the idea, and again if she were going to be honest she was sure he’d actually hate it. He was going to try and talk her out of it, and that simply wouldn’t do. It was too important.

The sentence keeps catching on the tip of her tongue, she can't quite figure out how to phrase it. But really, how does one go about informing their spouse that they intended to feign insanity to do research for a newspaper article?

He knows something is eating at her and that only makes matters worse because he keeps asking about it. She settles for the evening, when she can hide from his reaction in blankets and darkness.

“You want to do what exactly?” He snaps his head up from the pillow.

“I want to pretend to be insane.” She repeats. “So that I can see what it’s like to be institutionalized.”

He struggles to speak, stumbling over the word “Why?”

“To write about it.” He presses his palms up against his eyes. What the hell was she thinking?

“There’s no way I’m letting you do that.” She sits up at that. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not goin’.”

“That’s not your choice to make.” Her voice has an edge of irritation in it, but she doesn’t want it to become a fight.

“Why can’t you just ask to see the place. Explain what you’re doin?”

“What happened if visitors came by the refuge Jack?” She hates herself for drudging up those memories, but she needs to convince him.

“It’s what happens when people aren’t looking I’m worried about.”

“Exactly. If that hospital runs anything like the rest of this city, the people in there need help.”

“I don’t want you to go.” He pulls on her hand like a child trying to get an adult’s attention. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She lets him bring her close before answering. “I don’t want you getting yourself beat up at rallies, but I don’t tell you not to go.”

“I’m not telling you not to.” He says over her head. “I’m asking you not to.”

“I’ll be okay.” She turns to look him in the eye. “I promise.”

“You’re set on this ain’t ya?” He sighs.

“I’ll be okay.” She tells him again, getting the sense it’s the second in a string of many reassurances.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a plan with a million holes, but it was the best she had. She was going to spend the night in a boarding house, and cause enough of a scene to hopefully traumatize the other guests into fetching the police. From there she’d keep up the charade until she was behind the walls of Bellevue.

He sits on the bed pouting the entire time she gathers her things, making his disdain for her plan known at every opportunity. She’s given up asking his opinion on her various ideas, and refuses to look over at him any longer because she was, much though it pained her to admit, starting to doubt herself.

She considers leaving him there to mope until she gets back but can’t bring herself to. She sits next to him, and the reality of what she’s about to walk into strangles her until she can’t speak. He watches her out of the corner of his eye, refusing to throw her a lifeline.

“I’m going to b-“

“Don’t tell me you’re going to be fine. It’s not helping.”

“Then what do you want me to say?”

“That you realized that this is crazy and you ain’t goin’.”

“I have to go, Jack. You know I do.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”

“I’ll be back soon.” She leans in for a kiss. He clings to her long after it ends, until she tries to pull herself away. He loosens his grip but still doesn’t let go.

“Be careful.” He pleads.

“I will.”

“Love you.” He kisses her forehead.

“Love you too. Be back soon.” She promises.

He watches her from the window until he loses her in the crowd. He turns back to their empty room and throws a punch at the wall.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Katherine pays for the night at a home for working women and soon after begins to convince her fellow guests of her madness. She gives a different name to everyone who inquired, using anything that came to mind but the truth.

She sits in the corner of the parlor on a straight backed chair, smiling as she watches the women begin to whisper about her. She hums a march to herself and doodles in her notebook, making sure to leave no trace of logic in her work.

When the women start to leave for bed and inquire as to why she stays, she informs them that she is terribly afraid of rooms she has never seen and would much prefer to remain in the relative familiarity of the parlor.

This new comment brings on another round of hushed gossip and Katherine mentally celebrates her success that finally someone has muttered the word ‘crazy.’ They send for the owner of the boarding house and an unpleasant looking woman arrives, lamenting was Katherine was sure was a refrain of regret for deciding to open a boarding house.

“What’s the matter with you girl? Bedroom not to your highness’s satisfaction? Then you can just clear out.”

“Why are you all looking at me?” Katherine whimpers. “I’m scared of you.”

“She’s a loon. I’m sure of it.” A middle-aged woman tells the owner.

“Are you right in the head girl?” Another addresses Katherine.

“I made a left at Chicago, then went straight on to Paris.”

“You’re in New York, dear.”

“I’ve never been there before, I’ve heard that it’s lovely this time of year.”

“Good God she’s mad.”

“I won’t stay here with a crazy person around, she’ll kill us all before morning!”

“Fetch the police.” The owner orders her maid.

“I’ll have ‘er out soon enough, keep your skirts on ladies. Nothing to worry about.”

All but one of the guests clear out of the parlor, afraid to be too close to an insane person. The only one who remains takes a seat on the sofa nearest Katherine.

“What could be troubling such a lovely girl? What’s got you so upset?”

“There’s voices everywhere and people staring at me and I know I need to get somewhere but I don’t know how.” The sincerity in Katherine’s voice startles the woman most.

“Don’t you fret, dear. It’s only you and me now. We’ll find where you need to go soon. Just try and relax, everything will itself out in time.”

Satisfied with her performance, Katherine returns the woman’s kindness with a smile and starts humming to herself again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Please leave me any feedback, anything at all, even if you hate the piece, I'd still love to hear from you!


	4. Chapter 4

“What’s your name, Miss?” The officer asks.

“Minerva Braeden.” Katherine answers with the utmost sincerity.

“That ain’t the name she gave me.” The owner wastes no time in turning on her.

“Where do you live?” The police question again.

“I don’t remember.” She sighs. “It was so long ago.”

She doesn’t know how he got it, but the officer is holding her bag and escorting her out.

“Where are you taking me?”

“To see the Judge.”

“Why?”

“So he can decide where to send you.”

“Oh.” She maintains a tone of disinterest, but in her head she’s both happy to have succeeded and terrified of having to convince someone of actual authority she was truly mad.

By the time they’ve collected her and brought her across town to the court it’s late enough that the Judge is ready to see her. He talks with the officers first, getting her story, then orders her to come and speak with him. She obeys, startled by his harsh tone.

“What is your name?”

“People call me lots of things.”

“What should I call you?”

“Clara Daniels.” One of the officers whispers to the judge that she hasn’t given the same name once to anybody.

“Where are you from Miss Daniels?”

“Somewhere far away.”

“When did you come to New York?”

“I’ve never been before.”

“Clearly she cannot be left on her own, she needs to be cared for.” He informs the group.

“Perhaps Bellevue sir?”

A voice of the others waiting in line to be judged rises above the buzzing of the crowd. “Ladies like her don’t go to Bellevue. Look at those soft hands and that pretty face, she doesn’t belong there sir.”

“You do seem like a lady, Miss Daniels. You speak well and you walk well. I’d say you’re somebody’s sweetheart.” Her stomach lurches at that remark, and the guilt turns her face pale.

“Is there someone who will come looking for you?”

“N-no.” She stammers. “I don’t know of anybody looking for me. I don’t think I’m lost, I just don’t know where I am.”

“Bring her to the Island.” He sighs, motioning for the next person to come forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers!! So hoping that you are all enjoying the piece! Please please comment, even if it's to say you hate something I did, I'd still like to hear what you think!!


	5. Chapter 5

He spends maybe two hours in the news room of The Sun before he can’t take it anymore. She’s been gone almost two days and he wants her home. Now. He tosses his cartoon on his editor’s desk and is out the door before anyone can ask where he’s headed.

He spends a few hours in the library reading up on the inner-workings of the average mental facility, and that’s enough to convince him he should have tied her to a chair until she promised not to go. He staggers towards home, his head spinning with lists of conditions and treatments and the fact that he let his wife walk right into that. The only thing that jars him out of his self- deprecating soliloquy is walking head on into a body.

“Hey, watch where your goin-Jack?” He looks up from the cracks in the pavement to see David looking at him quizzically.

“Hey Dave.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah. Fine. Just peachy.” He rolls his eyes and goes to keep walking towards home.

“What’s the matter?” Dave falls into step next to him.

“Nothing.”

“Jack.”

They’ve reached the doors to Jack and Katherine’s apartment. Jack turns to face him. “Just drop it, alright?”

“You look like hell, what’s going on?” Jack sighs, knowing there’s no way he’s going to be left alone.

“It’s Katherine.”

“Is she alright?” Jack cocks his head towards the door, inviting Dave up to hear the whole story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy and comment!!! Thank you all!!


	6. Chapter 6

The police officers escort her into a different room in the same building where there was a doctor waiting to examine her. He counts her pulse, gripping her wrist so tight she’s sure she’s going to wake up with a bruise.

“How does my pulse tell you if I’m insane or not?” Her voice takes on its familiar role of inquirer.

“Mind your mouth, damn loon!” He jerks his hand away.

“It was just a question? What did I do wrong?” She asks, with the tremor of a child unaware of their misdeeds.

“Send her along.” He growls.

“Are you certain, Doctor?” One of the officers says, his face showing a sincere concern for her well-being, the last expression of its kind for many days, though she didn’t know it at the time.

“At best, she’s been drugged and needs to be examined by the experts there. At worst, she’s been injured in some sort of a fall or other such incident and belongs there.” The doctor dismisses them with a wave of his hand.

“Follow us, Miss.”

Something in the doctor’s tone startles her, and she can’t bring herself to move.

“Come along.” The voice adopts a tone of impatience.

“I don’t want to go.” She whispers.

“You heard the doctor, you need to be examined.”

“I want to go home.” The officers share a glance over her head before each taking a firm hold on her arm.

“Please, please I want to go home.” The fear in her voice is real, and it is that fact that confirms her destination. Bellevue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please send any comments my way! Hope you're enjoying it so far!


	7. Chapter 7

“So lemme get this straight. She’s pretending to be insane to get into Bellevue so that she can see what it’s like and write an article about it?”

“Yeah.” Jack sets two cups of coffee on the table and slides one over to Dave.

“You didn’t try and stop her?”

“No, Dave. I told her to have fun, send a postcard. Of course I tried to stop her stupid!”

“Well you don’t have to yell at _me_ over it.”

“Sorry.” Jack grumbles.

“I’m sure she’s going to-“

“If you like the way your face looks don’t tell me she’s gonna be fine.”

Dave stops his sentence, swallowing a sip of the bitter coffee. They sit in silence for a few minutes, Jack sitting like a caged animal, drumming his fingers hard against the table.

“It’s going to be one hell of an article.” Davey remarks.

“Am I the only one who’s got a problem with the fact that my wife got herself locked up in a nuthouse to write a story?”

“If anyone can do it, she can.”

“Guess you’re right about that.” He takes both empty mugs over to the sink. _Just wish she was home._ He adds to himself.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please send me any feedback you have, even if you don't like the story or the writing, I'd still love to hear what you have to say. Thanks!!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the hiatus!!! I didn't expect it but life happened. Thank you all for reading!!! Please please comment!!!!!!

 

The officers deliver Katherine into the care of the nurses, who relieve her of her belongings, including her notebook, upon arrival to the institution. Directly afterwards they lead her to the doctor’s office.

He asks her name several times, and when she does not answer tries to discover where she from with the same lack of success.

“What’s wrong child? Why don’t you speak?”

“I don’t belong here.”

“Is that why you won’t speak to me?”

She nods.

“Well I’m afraid that there are a good deal of people who are terribly worried about you. They believe that you belong here.”

“But I don’t!” She insists. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“I’m sure you think so. We shall see, in time.”

The nurses usher her out of the office, and she makes sure to commit to memory every word he said to her. It occurs to her that it was much easier to convince people of her madness than her sanity.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! Please leave a comment, I'd really appreciate it!!

A nurse leads Katherine to a large room with little more in the way of furniture than hard, uncomfortable looking benches around the wall. The first person who spoke to Katherine was a young woman who explained that she had been brought here by friends to be treated for anxiety. She had been here nearly three weeks and was hoping to return home in a few days time, as the doctor had shown her all sorts of ways to sooth her nerves and she was certain she could apply them to her daily routine at home.

The day nurse announces that it’s time for bed, and Katherine as well as the six other women in the ward are lead to small rooms that lock from the outside. She’s handed a short cotton shift to sleep in and her own clothes are bound with twine, labeled, and removed from her sight. Katherine inquires for her bag and is told that she is not allowed any of her own possessions until she leaves. She curses, furious that she has no way to take notes on her day.

The room is cold, and her bed is far from comfortable. She pulls the thin blanket up to her chin, curling into herself to keep from shivering. She can hear the night nurses gossiping about her just outside the door, but she refuses to turn and look at them. She forces herself to shut her eyes, then runs through every detail of the ordeal thus far, comitting it to memory as best she can. The faces of incompetent doctors and impatient nurses are difficult to erase, though she tries as best she can to pretend she’s home.

The nurse walks down the hall, locking every door as she passes. The sharp clang of the deadbolt startles Katherine from the near sleep she’d achieved, and she wishes, as she will for many more nights, that she were home.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read, comment, enjoy!!

Jack gave up trying to sleep hours ago, now he’s just trying to keep himself busy. He’s been pacing since around midnight, finding mundane things to focus on like re-organizing his paints and cleaning the dishes.

He’s starting to regret declining Dave’s offer to stick around, then at least there’d be someone to tell him to calm down. Not that he’d listen. Not when she’s off pretending to be crazy just  to write a goddamned article. Not when it’s the second night he’s alone in their apartment and that in and of itself is enough to infuriate him.

He misses her, if he were going to be honest. He’s worried and he wants her home. There are things  you learn when you grow up like he had, and one of the rules you learn fastest is to stay away from places where you don’t have a say in what happens to you. Especially when they’ll force a spoon down your throat or a needle in your arm just to get you to behave.

He tries to force that thought from his mind, but now that it’s there it won’t budge. He’s pacing again, his body just as restless as his mind. He taps a few nonsensical rhythms out on the keyboard of her typewriter, finding a small comfort in the familiar sound. He wants her home again, writing until the sky is getting light and he’s begging her to get some sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

The nurse wakes her before it’s even fully light out, pulling her practically useless blanket down from around her shoulders and giving the bed a kick. Katherine shivers at the cold, and it takes her a few moments to remember where she is. The nurse hands her a threadbare dress to put on over her shift and then usher out into the hallway.

She’s shuffled into a line with the other patients and brought into a washroom with a row of sinks lining the wall. They all scrub their faces and hands with the icy water from the tap. “Why don’t they turn the heaters on?” Katherine asks.

“Policy not to use the heat until October.”

“But it’s cold now.” Katherine says matter-of-factly.

“You’re here on the city’s dime, you be grateful they gave you a blanket to sleep with.” The nurse gives Katherine a warning look that sends more chills down her spine then the cold had.

An hour later they’re brought to the dining room and offered lukewarm oatmeal with a consistancy that resembles nearly hardened cement and bitter coffee that’s scalding hot. Katherine tries to force herself to drink it, to at least warm up but the nurses hurry the patients away before she can do more than burn her tongue. The nurses hand out bally, torn shawls and scarves to the patients before ordering them to sit on the hard benches along the walls of the day room. The windows are open and the September air is unforgiving, and all they can do is wait in enforced silence for their turn to speak to the doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry this took so long, and I'd like very much to promise a new chapter soon, but I honestly don't know, my life is a little hectic right now and my schooling has to come first.  
> Any comments, good are bad, as always are quite welcome!!! Enjoy!


	12. Chapter 12

“How are you feeling today?” The doctor inquires. “Will you finally tell me your name?”

“K-Katherine,” She stammers. She’d decided last night to use at least her real first name, so she wouldn’t forget to respond.

“How are you feeling today, Katherine?” He repeats.”Did you sleep well?”

“No. it was very cold.”

“Are you upset by that?”

“I’m not upset, I’m cold, and I’m sure the other women here are too. The nurses all have thick coats, but we don’t. Some of the women I saw yesterday are ill today. And I’m sure that’s why.”

“Really?” He sounds genuinely surprised.

“It’s unfair, we all must spend time in the great room, if they are not permitted to use the heat or give us proper dress, at the very least they might shut the windows.”

“You speak very well for a mad woman.”

“I’m not mad.”

“Of course not, simply ill.” He appeases her.

“I’m not ill either.”

“If you weren’t, you would not be here.” He reminds her, growing impatient.

The nurse returns to retrieve Katherine then, the doctor whispers quickly into her ear and the look on her face makes Katherine was to sink down into her chair and stay there.Katherine sits uncertainly, she has never actually attended a mental health exam yet but she is fairly certain that simply asking someone how they slept is not enough to evaluate their mental state with.

The Nurse waits until he shuts his door with the next patient to slap Katherine hard across the face. She cries out in surprise but nobody moves to help her, they barely acknowledge the incident at all.

“Next time you rat on us to the Doctor you’ll get worse.” The threat is not idle when the Nurse says it.

Katherine swallows her attempt to defend herself, cursing for having nowhere to write down her observations when already after one night they’re teeming with mediocracy and a concern for her fellow  patients safety, and now her own. “I only asked a question.” She cradles her face.

“You don’t ask questions here, you take what charity we give and you say thank you. Understand?” She glares menacingly at her and that look is enough to make Katherine fall silent. They continue staring at her as she takes her place next to someone in the room, sitting silently on the hard benches. The windows ware shut until the doctor leaves, and then abruptly pulled open again. She doesn’t protest the cold, she knows it won’t do any good, and she isn’t going to try and get herself hit again. She tries to talk to the other women but receives a sharp verbal reprimand reminding her not to talk.

 _Anyone could go mad under cicumstances like these._ She notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers (I know I have at least a few dedicated ones =D), I apologize profusely for the massive span of time between chapters, but it simply can't be helped. Until my course load calms down, well, this is how it is for now. I'll try to do better. Please please please if you see anything wrong with this chapter or any other don't hesitate to tell me. Constructive criticism most welcome. Thanks for all the patients and support! Enjoy!!


	13. Chapter 13

She left six days ago, and if things were going according to her insane _plan_ she’s been in the nuthouse for five days. He’s been restless since, pacing at odd hours of the night and snapping at anyone who asked what was bothering him.

Davey has to explain to the guys where she is, because he was scared Jack might actually snap the neck of the next person to ask, and when they know they all understand his worry and back off. Except Davey, of course, who refuses to leave his friend to brood alone. They sat across from each other in the apartment, which was cleaner than usual thanks to Dave’s inability to take a hint and go home.

“Did she say when she was gonna try and get out?”

“No. Don’t even know if she can get herself out. Already told ya Dave, she didn’t think this through. I got half a mind to go get her.” More than half of his mind wants to go bring her home, but he isn’t even sure if they’d let him. He isn’t even sure if she got where she wanted to be or not.

“She’ll be furious if you blow her cover.”

“I don’t give a damn about the article.”

“Maybe she’s doing fine.”

“Yeah, and maybe they got her strapped to a table so they can crack her skull open.”

“You’re overreacting. Stop assuming the worst, it’s not going to help.”

“I got no way of knowing if she’s alright or not, I ain’t gonna quit worryin’ till she’s back here in one piece.” Hoping his tone ends the conversation.

“What if you had a way of going to see her?”

“They only let you in if you’re the person who dragged them there in the first place.”

“Don’t they check the hospitals if you say your looking for someone?”

“So?”

“So say you’re looking for someone! Then you can see her and make sure she’s okay, but you’re not telling them who she actually is.”

“I go in there I’m not leavin’ without her. She’ll tear my head off.” He doesn’t like what she’s done, not one bit of it, but he’s not going to undermine her.

“I’ll go.”

“What?”

“I’ll go. I’ll say you were traveling, and you had some business to finish up so you sent her ahead to meet me. We’re friends, but you got married out West so I don’t know what she looks like. I couldn’t find her at the train station and I’ve been looking since. With  a story like that, we can make sure she’s alright but give her a little more time if she needs it.” Jack tries to say something but Davey continues. “It’s a good plan, Jack. For both of you.”

“What if she ain’t alright? What if she can’t stay there longer?”

“Then I’ll change the story.”

“You gotta promise that you get her outta there, you don’t let her talk you into staying if she’s in bad shape.”

“Of course.”

“I mean it!” He comes very close to sounding like a whining child.

“I’ll go now, alright? Don’t expect me to bring her home, cause I’m sure she’s okay.” He drags his chair back from the table and leaves his empty coffee mug on the counter. He unlocks the door to let himself out.

“Thanks, Dave.”

“Don’t mention it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So happy I got another chapter in this weekend! If you happen to be reading and see any typos/mechanics issues, please PLEASE do not hesitate to tell me about them. I write because it's fun, but also for practice. So let me know if I mess anything up, it means as much to me as praise, honestly.  
> Read, comment, tell me your likes/dislikes/fears, I'd love to hear what you think!  
> Thanks for reading, enjoy!!


	14. Chapter 14

She couldn’t be sure through the heavy door, but she would swear she recognized the voice arguing with the night nurse. Someone was frantically searching for someone, but the nurse told him he had to come back tomorrow during visiting hours, the lack of routine upsets the patients, and she didn’t want to disturb the whole floor.

The familiar voice persists, so then the nurse starts screaming, which wakes the patients and many of them start to shriek. The nurse shoos the man out of the ward, cursing him as he goes, then walks to the far end of the hall and bangs hard on the metal doors with a broom handle to silence the screeching patients.

Katherine turns away from the door so that the nurse can’t see if she’s awake, covering her head with her pillow to try and block the screams echoeing down the corridor. She wishes she could’ve been able to place the voice, to beg whoever it was to get her someplace warm, with food she could swallow without fighting not to throw up, and where people didn’t look at her all day and try and find a reason to punish her.

She makes herself as small as possible between her pillow and useless blanket, tears welling in her eyes at the reality of another sleepless night, the unpredictable cries of patients in other cells, and the thought of just how badly she wants to get home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read, comment, criticize, let me know what you think=D


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am finally back from hiatus!!! Many apologies, dear readers, I had finals and then moving back home and life in general happened. This chapter is quite long, so I hope that makes up for it at least a little? Please feel free to criticize and inform me of said criticisms. Thank you and enjoy!

“Get up!” Katherine shivers as the blanket is yanked off of her. “You need to be bathed, you’re having a visitor.” The harsh voice of the nurse frightens her, but she asks the question anyway.

“Why me?”

“You’re new. People come here searching for lost girls all the time. Now get up!” The nurse pulls her not at all gently by her hair, out of Katherine’s room, to the end of the hall and into the wash room.

Before Katherine can protest the one garment they’d allowed her to keep has been removed and she is held down by two nurses while another scrubs her skin raw with a dirty washcloth.

They douse her in cold water, making her already shivering body convulse. They braid her wet hair tight against her scalp, pulling tightly enough that her eyes smart with tears. After redressing her they pinch her cheeks hard to make her look _fresh_ and escort her into a barren visiting room.

“Don’t try anything funny girl, or you’ll regret it.” The nurse glares at her. Katherine folds her arms tight across her chest to try and keep warm despite being seated in front of the open window. The nurse walks out and holds the door open for the visitor to enter. For just one small moment Katherine thinks it might be her husband, but there isn’t time for her face to fall in disappointment, not when she’s struggling to hide her surprise.

“Da—Do I know you?” She interrupts herself before she can give away that she knows him.

“I’m not sure, Miss. I’m looking for my friend’s wife. You see, he went to Santa Fe on business some months ago, and got married there. He’s returning to New York and sent his wife ahead of him on the train, writing me to meet her. But when she was supposed to arrive I couldn’t find her anywhere.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.” She replies.

Davey lowers his voice to a whisper. “You look like hell.”

“I’m alright.” She tells him matching his tone. “Please don’t ruin my cover.” She pleads, every inch of her body protesting otherwise. “Please.”

“He’s very worried about her. He’s afraid that she’s hurt, or lost, or in trouble.” Davey’s eyes meet hers accusingly as his voice returns to normal volume. “He’s sent a telegram, begging me to find her and bring her home.”

“I’m sure when he arrives _in a few days_ he’ll be able to help you find her.”

“I’m not gonna lie to him.”His voice returns to a whisper. “He’s worried sick about you.”

“I’m just tired.” She insists. “I’m fine.”

“Katherine,”

“Tell him I’m fine, Davey, please.”

“You’re not, though.”

“Just tell him I am. This is important, the people in here need help.”

He shrugs in defeat, knowing there’s no good way out of that point.

“For how long?”

“A week.”

“Katherine!”

The nurse throws the door open. “Well is it her or not, I have other patients to see to.”

“I-I can’t be sure. She fits my friend’s description, but I don’t know for certain. If she isn’t found when he arrives  in a week I’ll bring him here to see.”

“Then if you would be so kind as to see yourself out, sir.” The nurse says, bored with his long-winded answer.

Dave steps towards the door, his instincts screaming at him not to go along with Katherine’s scheme any longer. “You should close the windows, it’s cold in here. And let her take a nap, seeing as she woke up early on my account.” Katherine winces when he stands up for her, knowing it’s only going to cause her trouble.

“We certainly will.” The nurse smiles sweetly. “Now good day to you sir.” Davey sends one more worried glance toward Katherine before leaving the room. She bites her lip when the nurse turns back to her.

“I’m going to fetch the Doctor. There must really be something wrong with you, if you couldn’t keep your trap shut.” She slams the door so hard it rattles the lone chair in the room. Katherine sinks down onto it and draws her knees to her chest, hoping she’s brave enough to endure whatever’s to come. 


	16. Chapter 16

Davey wastes no time heading back to Jack and Katherine’s apartment, his head spinning with the choice he had to make. Katherine was far from fine, especially from Jack’s overprotective stand-point, but she was trying to do some good for the world. And she had sworn to him she would be okay.

He knocks on the door and Jack yanks it open.

“Ya left her there.” He grimaces, throwing the door open wider to let Davey in.

“I told you I wouldn’t bring her home unless she was in trouble.” Davey replies, shutting the door behind him.

“So then she’s alright?”

He hesitates before answering. “Yeah, she’s fine.”

“Don’t lie to me Dave. I’ll crack your skull open if ya do.” Jack threatens his friend.

“She looked tired, and like she hadn’t been eating much. But she was okay.” Jack presses the heels of his hands hard against his eyes.

“Why’d you leave her there?” He says angrily. “You swore you’d bring her home if things was bad.”

“She told me not to.” Davey offers, as if that explains everything.

“Why’d ya listen to her? Yous said yourself she was crazy for goin’.”

“Because she’s doing something good, Jack. Something that, from what I saw, _needs_ to be done.”

“That’s exactly why I want her home.” He sighs.

“She’ll be alright.” Davey places a reassuring hand on Jack’s shoulder. “It takes a lot more than losin’ a little sleep to get to her.”

“Did you tell em when you’d be back?”  
Dave hesitates. “Well,”

“Dave.” Jack’s tone darkens.

“She wanted another week.” He removes his hand from Jack’s shoulder, trying to nonchalantly get himself out of reach.

“Damnit Katherine!” Jack hisses. “Damnit!” He slams his fist down hard on the table.

“Give her four days.” Davey suggests, knowing Jack will probably on last two.

“Do I got a choice?” Jack scoffs, hiding his fear behind his bravado, as he always does. If he had a choice, he wouldn’t’ve let her go at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments critiques and concerns welcome! Hope you enjoyed it!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we've hit a turning point. Read comment, enjoy? PLEASE LEAVE CRITICISM/COMMENTS
> 
> THIS IS A VERY DARK CHAPTER. CONTAINS PATIENT ABUSE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

“The nurse tells me you’ve had a visitor.” The doctor says, pretending to humor her. “Do you know him?” `

“I-“ Katherine hesitates, not sure how to respond.

“Why don’t you just tell me the truth.” The  doctor suggests.

“The truth?” She asks. He nods.

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” She says. He snickers.

“If you insist, Katherine.”

“There isn’t! I’m just as sane as you are!” She shouts.

“There’s no need to get upset.” He warns. “You don’t want to frighten the other patients, do you?”

“I’m _upset_ because you can’t tell that I’m not crazy! And it’s your job!” She screams. “And that you are watching all of us starve to death and keep trying to get us sick because we’re easier to control that way!” He rolls his eyes at her ramblings and calls for the nurse.

“I’ve also been informed you told your friend you had trouble sleeping?”

“Because I can’t, not because I’m mad!” She tries to explain despite his questioning look. “It’s cold here, and I’m so hungry it hurts and I want to go home!” Tears smart in her eyes.

“You don’t have a home. You were found wandering alone, and now you’ve adopted the idea that you are wanted because of something a man you’ve never known before today has told you.” He says harshly, nodding to the nurse who enters. “Take her to her room, she’s distraught.”

“Why won’t you listen to me?” She screams at him.

“If I entertained the notions of every mad woman who passed through these doors, I’d never get any work done.” He motions for the nurse to continue leading Katherine out. Katherine struggles against her, more out of reflex than anything, and the nurse is quick to call her colleagues in to deal with the situation.

It doesn’t take more than a few blows for Katherine, weak with hunger and fatigue, to submit to being dragged into her room by several nurses. She curls onto the bed, trying to present as small a target as possible, gasping as one too many fists make her struggle to breathe.  

“Here, child swallow this.” The doctor holds out two large pills.

“I don’t need any medicine.” Katherine gasps, earning herself another cuff to the head and a sharp “do as you’re told!”

“I don’t want to take medicine!” Katherine continues. “I don’t need it!”

“Hold her down.” The doctor says, bored. She struggles against the nurses, but she’s no match for three against one, especially in the state she’s in, and she finds herself unable to do anything but wince when a the needle of a syringe pierces her skin.

“There now, all better.” The nurses laugh, strapping Katherine down to her bed, “for her own safety.” 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that it has been so long and that this is so short. I have most of the rest planned out, but I have been working a lot so it may be a while. Thank you to anyone who has patiently waited, and with the utmost sincerity I say that feedback helps me get work done faster. Thank you all and enjoy :)

The walls won’t keep still. She’s in the day room, or maybe on her bed, and she can’t remember and she can’t surmise because the walls won’t keep still. She knows that every time a burst of clarity appears, it’s quickly cluttered with a pill forced down her throat or a needle in her arm, and it frightens her that she can’t tell which, or when, or why. She knows, or thinks that she knows that it’s been hours, or days, she hopes not weeks, because then Jack will be worried sick. He’d asked her not to do this, begged her not to, and now she knew why. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t, where is she? Which nurse jabs the needle because she likes to hear Katherine scream? She wants to go home. She’s cold and she’s frightened and nobody has asked her to speak or to explain and the longer she’s quiet the more confused she becomes. But if she’s loud then they’ll stab her with needles again, and she doesn’t remember how often they’ve been, but she shouldn’t have let them she’s nothing but sane, and why couldn’t they tell that for themselves. Do they even care? No, that she remembers, them not caring. But maybe she’s wrong, since she’s so lost now, and so cold. Maybe they do want to help her get better. But there wasn’t anything wrong, and now because of them she’s lost and alone and cold and far from home. She should never have come here, she should have stayed home. Safe with her husband who loved her, who begged her not to come. Who’d explained and pleaded and tried to make her see why this was the worst thing she could ever do. And now all she can do is feel guilty and cry. Then swallow the tears and wipe her face dry, because they’ll just keep sticking her alone in the cold and she needs a way out, but she can hardly walk and it hurts to breathe. She’s silenced by fear, a thing she thought she’d outgrown, and she’s cold and afraid and cowers when the nurse appears, smiling as she adds more drugs to the haze in her head. All Katherine wants is to  see the way home. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance. Enjoy, PLEASE comment :)

“I’m goin’ to get her.” Jack says defiantly over the kitchen table.

“It’s the middle of the night. If you go barging in there they’ll just commit you too.” Davey attempts to reason with his friend.

“You sure she’s alright?”

“She seemed fine. A little tired-“ Jack stopshim with a look. “But no more than she usually does!” Davey says quickly. “She said she needed at least a week. She’s doin’ somethin’ that’s worth it. You’ve gotta trust her.”

“I trust her plenty. It’s them I don’t.” Jack clarifies

“She’ll be alright.” Davey repeats.

“Ya and what if she ain’t?” Jack says sharply, his patience worn thin. “what if somethin’ happened and we’s sittin’ here arguin’?”

“You’re worried-I get it-but if you in there causing trouble they’re not gonna let her leave.”         

Jack’s calloused hands curl over the smooth wood of the table. “Dn’t say that.”

“it’s the truth.” Davey presses on, trying to make Jack see sense. “You’ve gotta cool down before we go, or they’re never going to let you bring her home. Even that bad a place, they wouldn’t let a crazy person take a crazier one.”

“Go home Dave.” Jack snarls. “Ya ain’t helpin’any.”

“I’m tellin’ it like it is pal.” Dave argues, but without enthusiasm. “You need to stay calm tomorrow.”

“So you’ll come with me then?” Jack says, not sure if he trusted Davey not to pull a fast one.

“I’ll meet you here in the morning.” He nods, piling his dirty dishes into the sink. “But if you don’t keep your cool I’m not going.” He says seriously, turning back to face Jack square on.

“Heard ya the first time.” Jack says wryly.

*

“Up!” Katherine doesn’t even try to flinch from the hand that tugged her out of bed by her hair. “That man’s back with his friend, looking for the wife. She’s probably dead, but they came looking anyway. Idiots.” The nurse grumbles.

Katherine tries to think back on her past few days and remember the face of the man who came to see her. She thought she’d known him, but couldn’t conjure his face clearly in her mind. All she knew was that her body ached and her head hurt and if she was good they wouldn’t hit her when they gave her another dose of medicine.

“No games this time.” The nurse warns while she scrubbed at Katherine’s face with a dirty cloth. “You be quiet and let him decide if he wants a crazy woman instead of his wife.” She drags Katherine through the corridor to the same room as last time, sitting her down in front of the open window. Katherine huddles into herself, trying to keep her body from convulsing.

“She’s the last person we’ve admitted.” The nurse says with a sweetness reserved for when the veil was lifted.

Jack hurries into the room, leaving Davey to the pleasantries of thanking the nurse.

His heart drops into his stomach when he sees her, and he takes a step toward her hesitantly. “Christ, sweetheart, what’d they do to you?” 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so tempted to leave another cliff hanger, but you were all so patient with me I couldn't do it! PLEASE leave any comments and complaints, I promise to look into anything you say. Enjoy!!

“Jack?” Her voice trembles with the effort of speaking, but she can’t help herself from hoping he’s really here, and it takes until his arms are wrapped around her tight for her to be sure. She lets him hold her without protest, she missed him as much as he did her.

“I’m s-sorry.” She rasps into his shoulder.

“It ain’t your fault.” He shushes her. He’s mad as hell, but not at her. Somewhere deep in his mind he feels like he should be, but the way she’s trying to cling to him but doesn’t quite have the strength silences those thoughts faster than he can even realize.  She’s beat to hell and confused and too cold to speak and he’s never letting her further than an arm’s length away again.

“This your idea a alright Dave?” He snaps. “Few more days like this she’d be dead!”

“She wasn’t nearly so bad when I was here.” Davey replied calmly, determined to talk Jack down before they had any more trouble. “I wouldn’t have left her like this.”

Jack goes to shout again but Katherine pulls hard on his sleeve. “D-don’t.” She stammers. “Not his f-fault. Don’t y-yell. Th-they’ll give me m-more needles.” Jack places a hand on her cheek to help sooth her, his heart breaking at the fear that’s laced in her voice.

“Shh. No they won’t. Not anymore.” He promises her.

“Well I’ll be damned.” The nurse admonishes from the doorway. “That’s really ‘er?”

“Bet you wish you’d treated ‘er better now, huh?” Jack hisses, turning to stand in front of Katherine.

“Jack don’t.” Davey pleads. “I’m sorry ma’m, he’s just a little upset.”

“She was psychotic. We gave her the medication for her own good.”

“An’ ya beat the hell outta her for her own good too?” Jack shouts. “What if we hadn’t come back, huh, were ya just gonna wait for her to freeze t’ death?”

“I don’t think I appreciate what you’re implying about our institution.” The nurse says defensively. “Perhaps you’d like to speak to our Doctor?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Davey tries to intervene.

“Well, you’ll need to if you want her to leave.” The nurse smiles viscously.

“Whatta ya mean?” Jack asks harshly.

“He’ll need to evaluate her, of course. See if she’s fit to leave.”

“She’s leavin’.” Jack said, his glare making this statement fact.

“Well, we’ll see, won’t we?” The nurse continues to smile sweetly. “Come along dear.” She reaches for Katherine but Jack blocks her path, allowing Katherine to curl against his side.

“Let her go, Jack.” Davey says from the door. “He’s just gonna talk with her.”

Every instinct Jack has is not to let Katherine anywhere but right by his side, and the way she’s trying to disappear behind him just serves to tell him how right that instinct is.

“I haven’t got the time for this.” The nurse clips. “Either let me do my job or leave, but I promise you sir that she won’t be leaving the premises unless she’s formally discharged.”

“Jack,” Davey says more softly. “You gotta let her.”

Jack bites the side of his cheek hard, hating himself already for what he was about to do. He slowly loosened the hold he had around Katherine, almost losing his nerve when she spoke.

“N-no.” She cowers against him. “No!” She didn’t want to lose the safety, the warmth of having him close. They were a team, she couldn’t do this on her own any longer.

“It’s alright, sweetheart.” He says gently. “Hey, look at me.” He guides her chin gently to meet his gaze. “It’s gonna be alright.” She bites her lower lip, still afraid. “I promise. I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

“It won’t take long.” The nurse says, her insensitivity clearly evident. “As long as she behaves.”

“Just answer his questions, then we’s can go home.” Jack encourages Katherine. “It’s gonna be jus’ fine.” He forces himself to move out of the way so that the nurse could lead Katherine out of the room.

*

The nurse hisses a string of threats and profanities at Katherine through the entirety of the hallway, giving her a final painful shove into the doctor’s office.

“Good morning Katherine.” He says. “You seem distraught. Is everything alright?”

“I w-want to go h-home.” She replies with as much strength to her voice as she could muster.

“Well I’m afraid that’s not possible.” The doctor patronizes her. “You don’t have a home to go to.”  
“Jack’s h-here.” She insists. “M-my Jack.”

“Your Jack?” The doctor asks, surprised, then calls for the nurse to come in from the hall. “What’s this all about?”

“There’s a man here claiming she’s his wife. His friend was here a few days back. I think they’re looking to take her out West or some nonsense. They’re rude as can be, I don’t know if they can be trusted to care for a maniac.”

“I-I’m not c-crazy, and I w-want to go w-with them.” Katherine whimpers. “I want to go h-home.”

“Do you have any reason to believe they’re lying?”

“I don’t like their attitudes.” The nurse harrumphs.

“That wasn’t my question. Will you ask the man-Jack you said his name was?-to come here please.”

Jack comes in quickly, standing with his arm across Katherine’s back. She clings to the hand he has resting on her shoulder. Davey follows behind, lingering in the doorway once again.

“You’re certain that you know this man?”

Katherine nods. “It’s Jack.”

“And how did you know to come and find her here, sir?” the doctor turns to Jack.

“My friend, Davey, he’s never met her before. He was gonna meet her at the train and they got separated. He came lookin’ fer her while I was still out West, but he’s never met her before, so’s all he knew was what I wired that she looked like.”

“And you’re certain this is your wife?”

“Course I am!” Jack says, his patience wearing thin. “And she’s cold, and probably sick, so I’d appreciate it if you’d let me take her home so’s I could at least get her warmed up.”

“Well if you believe you can handle the responsibility of caring for a mentally ill person-“

“She ain’t crazy!” Jack bursts out.

“Jack!” Davey hisses at him, glaring at him to calm down.

“She’s just scared.” Jack continues, but his tone is even. “She’s gonna be just fine once we get home.”  
“I don’t know.” The doctor muses.

“Please, Doc.” Jack says, and his tone has changed again to the point of near desperation. “I need her to come home. She’s-she’s my whole world, and I don’ know what I’ll do if I gotta leave here without her. I missed her more’n anythin’, I was worried sick about her bein’ all alone, and I wanna bring her home. Please.”

“Alright.” The doctor sighs. “I’ll write it up.” 


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is at long last! PLEASE leave me comments, I know many of you love it, but it would really be helpful if you took an extra minute or two and told me why. I do take the work seriously, and I can't get better without a reading on how my readers feel!

The doctor excuses himself quickly to go and see to a patient, but promises to return in a few minutes to sign Katherine’s discharge papers.

“I got half a mind to soak ‘em while we’re here and save the trip back.” Jack mutters, kneeling in front of Katherine and examining her injuries as gently as possible.

“Don’t talk like that.” Davey scolds him.

“Ya seen what she looks like?” Jack glares at him from over her shoulder.

“They didn’t sign her papers yet. If they hear you they might not.” David insists. “They might even lock you up too.”

“Let ‘em try.” Jack growls, reaching up to examine a bruise under her eye. He pulls his hand back quickly when she flinches away.

“Don’t!” She whimpers.

“I won’t hurt you sweetheart.” He says, miserable that he’s frightened her. “I promise.”

“I’m sorry.” She says, a wave of guilt filling the haze in her mind. She shouldn’t be afraid, not to speak, not to breathe, and certainly not of Jack.

“It’s alright.” He assures her. “It’s alright, don’t be upset.”

“We should ask what they gave her.” Davey says quietly. “She wouldn’t have let them do this before.”

“Katherine, hey” He touches her face again, gentler then before. “Sweetheart, do you remember what kind of medicine they gave you?”

She fights through the haze to remember what they’d called it, but the name won’t come to her. “It m-made me tired. And I c-couldn’t m-move and it was h-hard to t-talk.” She’s struggling to speak now, and the difficulty isn’t lost on either of the boys.

There is a professional sounding knock on the door and Jack gives her hand a reassuring squeeze before standing up. Davey waits until Jack nods to tell the intruder to come in, and the doctor is startled by the two pairs of eyes boring down on him.

“Is everything alright gentlemen?” He asks.

“Whatdja give ‘er?” Jack’s voice cracks. “What the hell’d you do to her?”

“Morphine, sir. She was having trouble sleeping.”

“Yeah I’m sure-“

“Jack!”

“Do you have concerns?” The doctor inquires.

“She can barely talk!” Jack shouts. “She’s hurt bad, and ya mean to tell me ya didn’t know there wasn’t nothin’ wrong with her!”

“Don’t.” Katherine sobs. “Don’t.” Jack curses himself for losing his temper, he’s nearly blown her cover, and worse he’s scared her to the point of tears.

“I’m not certain either of you are in any state to leave here.” The doctor quips.

“No, sir. Please excuse my friend, he’s just worried is all. His wife means a great deal to him.” Davey interjects, stepping in front of both his friends. “I promise you sir, they’re alright, just lonely.”

“Katherine?” The doctor asks, ignoring Davey’s remark. She looked at him, still clinging tightly to Jack’s hand. “Are you certain that you feel well enough to leave?”

She nods, afraid if she speaks her voice will convince him otherwise. He takes that as enough and signs a few papers, marking X’s  where Jack’s own signature is required. Jack signs quickly and the doctor examines his signature, raising an eyebrow at the last name.

“Kelly? You’re that trouble-maker teaching workers how to unionize.” His face falls as he realizes who’s been in his charge.

“And this is my wife, the reporter, Mrs. Katherine Kelly.” Jack says proudly. “Hope ya don’t mind gettin’ your name in the papes Doc; somethin’ tells me she’s got another headline story.” 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! Important note: I will be participating in NaNoWriMo, so Mad House is on hiatus until after November 30th! I may post other one-shots if the inspiration strikes, but I will not be revisiting this story until then. It is FAR from over, I promise. Enjoy the chapter, PLEASE respond, it makes me feel so loved :) Thanks and happy reading!!!

The ride home was quiet, with the three of them piled in the back of a cab. Katherine was in between the two of them, curled so close against Jack she may as well have been in his lap. Jack kept her calm as best he could, sharing worried glances with Davey over the top of her head.

When they finally reached the apartment Jack took one look at Katherine’s shaking form before deciding to carry her upstairs. Davey took the responsibility of paying the cab driver and hurriedly ran in front of Jack to open the door. When they got inside Jack laid Katherine down gently on the couch, only barely listening when Davey says he’s leaving to give them some privacy and let the boys know she was alright.

“Keep them outta here.” Jack commanded.

Davey nodded, knowing his friends. Knowing they’re going to need space. “I’ll come around in a few hours, bring something to help warm her up.”

“Hey Dave” He turned and looked back into the apartment, his feet still outside the door. “Thanks.”

“Shut up,” He said wryly, closing the door behind him. Jack couldn’t help but concede a small grin, but it faded quickly when he knelt down in front of Katherine. She was curled into herself, eyes closed and hands trembling.

“Katherine?”  He reached for her hesitantly, careful not to startle her. She fought to open her eyes, and even then it was hard to focus on what he was saying.

“Gonna get you warmed up.” He promised. “It’s gonna be alright.”

He kissed her forehead and pulled their quilt from the edge of the couch over her. She clutched it against herself, still shaking. He forced himself to leave her side long enough to heat water for a bath.

When he guided her from the couch into the kitchen she made no protest, but when she saw the tub of water her eyes went wide with panic.

“No, please.” She begged him, memories of knife-like cold fresh in her mind. “Too cold.”

“No, no.” He said softly, a fresh wave of rage rising in the pit of his stomach. She’d never known cold like he had, and he’d swore time and again that wasn’t going to change. He’d failed her, in the most basic of ways, he’d promised when she’d risked so much that he would protect her from anything and everything, and they’d hurt her. He’d bet anything they’d helped (tortured) her with ice water more than once.

“It’s warm, sweetheart.” He dipped his hand into the water and brushed it gently against her cheek. “No more cold, see? No more, I promise.”

She nodded, holding his palm against her icy skin. His eyes met hers and he sought her permission, still expecting his wife to argue when he offered the smallest hint of aid. None came though, when he gently pulled her dress over her head and helped her sink down into the comforting warmth of the wash basin. He unwound the viciously tight plait in her hair with gentle skill, murmuring soothing comforts while he tried to keep her from slipping back into the fog.

He helps her into her nightgown with the softest of touches, determined not to cause her even the slightest bit of pain from the myriad of different colored bruises painted across her skin.  She accepts his help yet again without, but the warmth she’s feeling for the first time in nearly two weeks has at least helped her to remember that she ought to argue.

She forgets again as soon as the memory surfaces, and only knows that she doesn’t want him to be far away from her. She holds tight to his hand even as she’s lying in bed, trying so hard to stay with him and not disappear into her mind again. She’s afraid of so many things, of nurses and needles and cold and what Jack’s going to—

“Are you mad at me?” Her voice is barely a whisper.

“Course I ain’t mad at you.” He says, hurt she’d even consider it. “How could I be mad when you’s been so brave?” He runs his hand down her side in comforting strokes. “You been through so much, an’ all to help folks who nobody else even thinks of. How could I be mad bout that? “Worried sick, for sure” He says honestly ”But I ain’t mad” He kisses the top of her head again. “Hell, I’m proud a you. You just let me help ya get better alright? Lemme take care a you a few days, then yer gonna write the best damn article the _Sun’s_ seen in years. Alright?”

She nods her head in agreement, too exhausted to speak. She closes her eyes to rest as he encouraged her to, for the first time in near two weeks able to fall asleep. 


	23. Chapter 23

Her rest is far from peaceful, and Jack can’t help but grow more and more concerned as she tosses and turns. The morphine should have calmed her, and he’s afraid to consider how carelessly they medicated her for it to have the opposite effect. He isn’t sure if it’s too high a dose or a withdrawal reaction, but he’s convinced the fever she’s running is no help either.

His hand moves slowly from the top of her head down to her wrist, the gesture soothing him as much as it does her.

Probably ought to get some rest, he’ll be no good to her exhausted, but he couldn’t rest even if he wanted to. Every mark on her makes his mind swim with horrors; and he can’t decide if the truth is worse than what he thinks might have happened. He won’t know unless she wakes up. _Until_ she wakes up.

He runs from that thought, and leaves his post by her side to pace the floor of their bedroom. He walks silently, keeping a watchful eye on her, forgetting to breathe with each of her rasping breaths. He can’t take this much longer, the fact that he can’t do anything. She’s got to get better, got to write her story, got to prove how bad it was in there, and there ain’t nothin’ he can do to help.

An idea comes to mind and he leaves her briefly to fetch his sketchbook from where he’d thrown it-quite literally, enraged by her plight- in the front room. She’s trembling when he returns and he places his hand on her cheek, whispering soft comforts.

“Shh. It’s alright.” He promises. “Go back t’ sleep sweetheart.”

“’S cold.” She whimpers, but her fiery skin says differently. He presses his palm to his jaw, debating what he should do. He knows she could get too warm easily, but she looks damn near ready to cry and he ain’t sure he can bear to see that happen neither. He compromises by pulling another quilt from the chest at the foot of the bed, but only laying it on her as high as her waist. “Just go back to sleep.” He says again, but she already has.

He pulls his chair closer to her and lights the candle on the bedside table. He takes a deep breath before putting pencil to paper, bracing himself for the daunting task ahead.

“Pictures worth a thousand words, ain’t that right?” He says quietly, talking to her even though he knows she won’t answer. “Got Roosevelt to close the refuge, didn’t they? So’s I’m gonna draw some a you, too. Put ‘em next to the article you’re gonna write, it’ll be the best story the _Sun’s_ ever had. You’ll sell a million papes.”

He forced himself to examine each of the cuts and bruises, sparing no detail in his renditions. If she had to suffer like this to get those people help, then the world could handle a little gore. So what if her article messed up the city the way the nurse’s messed up her face, nobody was gonna listen otherwise.

He knows she had good reason, but that don’t mean he doesn’t wish on every star in the sky she was alright. She had to do it, but that don’t mean he’s gonna leave her to finish this alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Hopefully it won't happen again. There were a lot of things that prevented me from writing, and I thank you all for your patience.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look an update! Please give me detailed feedback, it means a lot to hear what you have to say. I write fanfic to improve, so I welcome any edits you have. Even if it's a typo, please let me know.

“She ain’t better Dave.” Jack said, more than a hint of despair in his voice. “It’s been near three days, she ain’t hardly opened her eyes for more’n a minute.”

David had torn Jack away from her bedside, insisting he at least have a cup of coffee and something to eat. “Maybe you oughta have a doctor come see her, and figure out if she’s sick or it’s the medicine they gave her that’s causing the problem.”  He offered rationally, careful to mind Jack’s likely-to-snap-at-any-moment temper.

“Or both.” Jack said, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up.

“You need to get some sleep too ya know.” Davey said sternly. “You’re not helping her any getting yourself run down.”

“Ya know where the door is.” Jack growled, pushing himself away from the table. “I’m goin’ t’ check on my wife.”

“I’m bringing a doctor back.” David warned him from the kitchen table.

*

Katherine had curled herself into a ball in his absence, her who body trembling. Jack dipped a fresh cloth into cool water and dabbed at her skin gently, trying to cool her down. “It’s alright.” He soothed her, knowing the words held little meaning but saying them all the same. “Hey,” he ran his thumb across her cheek. “Davey’s gonna get a doctor to come check on you, help you get better. You just hang on.”

Katherine’s expression went from one of pain to fear so quickly Jack missed it at first. “What’s the matter?”

“No.” She whimpered. “Please.”

“You ain’t gettin’ better.” He told her.

“They’ll m-make it worse.” She nearly sobbed. “Please, Jack, no.”

“Alright, alright. Just calm down.” He agreed without thinking. He could rarely deny her anything before, and seeing that look of terror on her face was no incentive to start. She’d get better, he knew plenty about takin’ care a folks when they was sick. She didn’t want anybody else near her, he’d keep her safe. No matter what. “It’s just you an’ me, no one else. It’s alright.” He promised. “Jus’ you an’ me.”

*

“Get the hell outta my doorway Dave. He ain’t getting’ anywhere near her.”

“Please, Mr. Kelly, from what your friend has to described to me your wife is in desperate need of professional attention.” The doctor spoke up from behind David..

“ _Professional attention_ is what has her this sick.” Jack said coldly, mocking the doctor’s tone. “She’s scared t’ death as it is, I ain’t makin’ it worse.”

“She needs help.” David insisted. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

“That’s my wife in there, not yours, an’ she said no. So the both a you better get the hell outta my house ‘fore I bust your skulls for trespassing.” Jack threatened darkly.

“She’s gonna wind up dead if you don’t start talking sense.” David matched Jack’s tone in malice. “Is that what you’re aimin’ for?”

Jack’s arm twitched to throw a punch square into Davey’s jaw for even sayin’ somethin’ like that. Trouble was he knew it was true. He didn’t want to break his promise to Katherine, but he didn’t know how else to help her.

“Fine.” He let out a heavy breath before turning to face the doctor squarely. “You don’t do anything that hurts her. You do everythin’ you can not to scare her, or you’ll be the one needin’ _professional attention_.”

“Jack!” Davey hissed. “Please forgive him Doc, he’s just worried. It’s got him all screwy.”

“You have my word I’ll keep her as comfortable as possible Mr. Kelly.” The doctor ignored Davey’s appeal. “I won’t let anything happen to her.” The gentleman touched Jack reassuringly on the shoulder as he walked past, pretending not to notice the enraged glare on Jack’s face while he passed.


	25. Chapter 25

Jack gripped the bedpost so tightly Davey was convinced his friend was going to snap it off and crack Doc’s skull with it. Every weak, raspy breath Katherine drew made Jack tenser, and when the doctor tried to help her sit up and she winced in pain Davey had to throw his arm out to stop Jack from lunging.

“He’s trying to help,” Davey whispered fiercely. “Let him do his job.”

“He’s hurting her,” Jack replied harshly.

“Her ribs don’t appear to be broken, just severely bruised,” The doctor informed the boys quietly, forgiving the furious looks Jack kept casting in his direction. He was no stranger to tragedy, this boy, nor to grief, and if he needed a face to pin his anger on, the doctor would dutifully oblige.

“She has the beginnings of pneumonia, from exposure no doubt, and quite a few symptoms of shock. The best I can recommend is medicine for the pain. The stress is only making matters worse, and I’m afraid any treatment for the sickness itself will exacerbate matters.”

“You’s just gonna put her back to sleep?” Jack growled. “Ya ain’t gonna make her any better?”

“It’s best for her Mr. Kelly, the treatments for pneumonia are, quite taxing on the body. If we allow her to rest comfortably, it’s possible she’ll get better on her own without putting her through any more trauma.”

“But you ain’t sure?” Jack took a step toward the doctor. “Ya don’t know, so’s you’re just gonna experiment on my wife like she’s back in that damn prison.”

“Jack, he’s doing the right thing.” Davey placed himself between the two of them. “Let him help her, she’s hurting bad.” Jack glared at them both and cast one more terrified look in Katherine’s direction before tossing a bitter consent over his shoulder and storming out.

*

The doctor left instructions with Davey, who apologized on Jack’s behalf, offering only that “he sort of forgets how to behave when she’s involved.” The doctor smiles solemnly and departs, reminding Davey to fetch him in two days time or if anything significant should change.

As for Jack, who was slumped against the living room wall, knees pulled to his chest and head on his arms, there were no instructions other than to “remind him that stress will only frighten her, so he’d best mind that temper of his.”

“She’s afraid of the needles,” he informed Davey’s shoelaces. “She begged me not t’ let them hurt her again.

“I know,” Davey said. “But it’s her best chance at getting any better.”

“I promised her,” Jack lamented. “I promised I wouldn’t let anyone near her. What if she don’t wake up, Dave, huh? What if she- what if the last thing I eva’ did was lie to her? What if the last thing I eva’ said was that I was gonna break my promise?”

David sat beside him on the floor and sighed. “If there’s one thing I know about Katherine it’s that she won’t go down without a fight. She’s gonna pull through. I’m sure of it.”

“But what if she don’t?” Jack snapped. “What if she don’t?” He repeats again, this time sounding more frightened then before. “Then what? I ain’t never had anyone else like her. Not one. Everyone was always lookin’ at me to be strong, ya know? Solve all their problems. Me an’ her, we ain’t like that. We’s a team. There ain’t no one else like her in the whole a New York, probably not even the world that’s as special as ‘er. And I don’t even know if she’s ever gonna open her eyes again.”

“She will,” Davey says firmly. “She has to.”


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I will continue to post more regularly. PLEASE PLEASE leave a comment, even if it's just a line you liked or a typo you noticed, I'd really appreciate it!! Thank you!

Screams pierced the walls of her locked room. People crying, shrieking, calling for nurses, for God, for loved ones that didn’t even know where to look.

A man with soft hands held her wrist for a moment, counting the beats of her frightened heart.

The cold felt like it would drown her, pushing down on all sides, and try as she might she couldn’t take a breath.

The nurse snatched up her blanket and laughed when she curled up on her side, dreading the blows she knew were to come.

Her chest felt like it held the weight of a dictionary on top of it.

She tried to curl her fingers in between the familiar callouses of his, but she didn’t have the strength.

He said her name like an unending prayer. She couldn’t answer.

*

“You promised,” she said when the man she didn’t recognize came through the door. “You promised.”

“I know, I know I did sweetheart, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Jack pressed her shaking hand between both of his own. “It’s gonna be alright, he ain’t gonna hurt you. I’m right here.”

*

When she was little she was afraid of the dark, of thunder and crowds and men who shouted when things didn’t go just so. When she grew up she thought she’d left that all behind. But now, with doors that slam like thunder and screaming patients echoing against the too small walls of her mind, with men who shout promises in whispers then leave her alone in the dark, now she was afraid again.

She didn’t used to be afraid. She was brave enough to sneak behind the walls, to stand up for the people who didn’t have a voice, just like how she’d learned to stand up for herself. What would happen to those women without her story? They’d keep suffering, in the cold and the dark, without her they’d stay afraid. She had to fight. She knew how, knew how to fight a world telling her to be quiet, to stand up to even her father, she knew she had a voice. She just had to find it again.

*

The light made her head pulse and her chest felt like it was being crushed under her typewriter. She thought she could make out the sound of soft voices, and of the coffee pot returning to the stove. She moved gingerly, pressing her palms to the mattress and pushing herself up, but the walls began to spin and before she could realize there were insistent hands on her shoulders easing her back down.

“Hey, not so fast sweetheart.” Jack kept his voice steady, fighting every bit of his self that wanted to cry at the sight of her waking up. “Just take it easy.”

She nodded in consent and let all of her weight fall back onto her pillows. He moved to brush her cheek with the back of his hand, then held it gently against her forehead. “Your fever’s breakin’, thank God.”

Katherine reached for his hand and held it between both of her own. “I missed you.”

Jack chokes on a laugh, relief a foreign taste on his tongue. “Missed you too. Don’t-“

Don’t ever scare me like that again, he wants to say. Don’t you dare ever leave my side, no matter how good the cause I ain’t gonna stand by and watch you nearly die, not ever again.

“Don’t worry,” he says. “You’re here now, it’s alright.”


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little flavor of how everyone else is taking all of this. PLEASE send me any criticism or thoughts, I'd really really appreciate it.

They’d slept only slightly more than Jack had. Newsie or not, Katherine was family. Closest thing to a sister, hell, closest thing to a Mother most’ve them had ever had.

When news broke of what she’d gone and done, they’d been real worried. More than one of them could name someone who’d gone through the doors a Bellevue and not come out. JoJo’s Aunt, the old woman who used to live on the corner of Specs selling spot, Henry’s former neighbor who hadn’t been much older than Katherine, all still there.

The boys had worried right along with Jack, camped out despite his orders to stay away,  keeping the apartment in some sort of habitable state, losing sleep right along with him. Davey, Specs, and Race alternated attempts to talk Jack into getting some rest for himself, most of which failed. Orders or not, they’d be around until they knew she was alright.

Davey laid the paper he’d been skimming aside and took a brief headcount. JoJo and Romeo were setting out a hand of cards, Race was dozing in his chair, hat tipped low over his eyes. Davey stood up slowly, bracing himself for another round of Jack’s temper.

A coping mechanism, that’s what David’s mother had called it. When Jack got scared he got angry, that much they all knew, even if only a few had the nerve to call him on it. Davey was just as stubborn, he could usually talk Jack down, He gives Romeo’s shoulder a light tap and brought his index finger to his lips, reminding them both to be extra quiet when he opened the door. They nod in understanding, JoJo muttering a quick “good luck” before returning to their cards.

Davey squares his shoulders, expecting the same helpless scene he’d bore witness to these past several days.

“Her fever broke,” Jack tells him, relief dripping off every syllable.

“Thank God.” Davey says. “Did she wake up?”

“For a minute or so.” Jack answers.

“That’s good.” Davey says cautiously. “Means she’s coming out of it. Do you want me to bring anything?”

“Water, think she needs to drink something. Her voice sounded real dry.”

Davey could think of a dozen better reasons why her voice sounded dry, but he wasn't going to push. “Alright, I’ll be back in a minute.” Jack nods his consent, his attention already back on Katherine’s resting form, watching every breath as if it were rare work of art.

“Well?” Romeo asks when he saw Davey come back into the main room.

“She’s gonna be alright.” Davey replies. “She woke up for a minute or so, and her fevers down.”

The boys cheer loudly, startling Race awake, who mutters a sleepy “keep yer voices down, Kate’s sleepin’,” but after catching Davey’s eye added a quick “ain’t she?”

“She’s better.” Davey informs him before turning to JoJo. “Go and get the doctor, tell him she opened her eyes and her temperature is down.”

JoJo gave a quick salute, folding his cards in front of a smug looking Romeo.

“I woulda had you, queens or no queens.” Romeo says.

“No ya wouldn’t’ve!” JoJo replies.  

“Will ya get goin?” Davey breaks up their squabbling, feeling for the first time in nearly two weeks that things could start getting back to normal.

“I’ll let the other fellas know.” Romeo says, following JoJo gleefully out the front door.

“And don’t come back!” Race calls after the both of them, then shrinks under Davey’s glare. “I’m shushin’, I’m shushin’,” he sighs, lying back and returning his cap to its comfortable spot across his eyes.

 


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all!   
> I am so so sorry it took this long to update. I will do my best to wrap the story up in the next month or so. I would LOVE to hear any constructive criticism you have, or questions/concerns/anything. PLEASE do not comment asking for an update. It makes me feel gross and unappreciated, and therefore not likely to update any faster. Thank you for understanding and I hope you enjoy!!

If the ten days she was gone lasted a year, the ten days it took her to feel better were eternity. Better, of course meaning a dull ache when she inhaled as opposed to pain she thought would kill her, and the ability to tell a nightmare from reality, but improvement, all the same.

“She still needs time,” the doctor had warned, “she can walk around some, it’s good for her lungs, but most of her strength will come from staying in bed.”

“You don’t know my wife,” Jack had grumbled, “she ain’t gonna like that one bit.” True to her reputation, as soon as her mind had cleared all she could think of was writing it all down.

“It’ll be faster if I just type, Jack _please_?” 

“You’re just barely feelin’ better, ain’t no way you’re sitting at that typewriter all day.” He chides her, reaching to readjust her pillow.

“Stop fussing over me!” She says, exasperated. “I’m not dizzy any more, and I don’t have a fever any longer. I’m just a little sore. I promise if I start to feel too much pain I’ll come back to bed.”

“I’ll believe that when hell freezes over, I let you up then I ain’t never getting’ you back in this bed. You’re just gonna get yourself sicker again.”

“I’m wasting time-“

“You have to stay in bed.” He insists sternly. “It’s for your own go-“ And before he can fully get the words out she’s falling over herself and trapped in a tangle of blankets.

“No!” She gasps when he reaches for her, “don’t!” She scrambles further back from him, misjudging the space between her body and the edge of the bed, landing hard on the floor opposite from the space she’d occupied a moment earlier.

“Katherine!” He’s in front of her in less than a heartbeat, trapping her between the bed and the wall.

“Don’t!” She repeats, her voice climbing an octave. “Please-“

“Easy, easy” he holds his hands palms up in front of him. “Katherine,”

“Don’t tell me it’s for my own good,” she gasps out, clutching her arm across her stomach. “Don’t.” She says again, her voice steeling against him. “You sound just like them.”

 “I’m sorry,” he says softly, careful not to move any closer to her. “I didn’t mean to scare you, sweetheart.” She looks at him like a caged animal, trying not to scream from the pain of jarring her already sore frame on the floor. He takes her silence as a sign of calm and keeps talking, still not daring to move closer to her. “Bet your ribs hurt like hell after that fall. Try an’ steady your breathes, alright? In and out, nice an’ slow.” He repeats the rhythm until she’s in time with him, shifting the effort to breath from agonizing to painful.

“That’s it,” he praises her, “real good. You want me to help you up?”

“No,” she rasps, “I can do it.” She reaches for the bed, using it to slowly pull her weight up. He watches her carefully, not reaching out until her legs give way beneath her. He catches her before she can hit the ground again, her face drained of color by the effort. She leans against him reluctantly, too spent to fight him for her pride.

“Just take it slow, sweetheart. You’re gonna be alright.” She turns her face from him in shame, wanting to loathe herself for the weakness a bit longer. He lets out a slow breath over her shoulder, seeing her defeated was near as bad as seein’ her hurting, if not worse.

“Come on,” he sweeps her legs out from under her, careful to use the lightest of touches. She expects he’ll just place her back in the bed and demand she stay there, but instead he continues out into the kitchen. Setting her onto her feet gently, he makes sure she’s steady against the table before grabbing a pillow and blanket from the bed. He place the pillow on the chair in front of her and makes a show of arranging it just so before extending his hand to help her balance.

“Your throne m’lady,” he says with a devilish grin.

“Jack-“

“You better sit down and get to work ‘fore I change my mind,” he says, only half-kidding. She sits gingerly on the chair and stretches her arms across the table, fingers skirting the keys of her typewriter reverently. Jack drapes the blanket over her shoulders and leaves an approving kiss on her cheek.

“I’ll make some tea, you get typin’. If ya start gettin’ tired or worked up just back up, alright? It ain’t goin’ nowhere.” He says it like an order but knows full well he can’t make her listen.

“You’re too good to me Kelly, you know that?” She smiles, the first he’s seen since she’s been home.

“An’ don’t you forget it.” He smirks, the first sign of normalcy in far too long.


	29. Chapter 29

BEHIND PRISON WALLS: THE TRUTH ABOUT BELLEVUE   
What does New York’s most notorious Mad House have to hide? Editorial by Katherine Kelly  
Some of New York’s most tragically in need are those being most horrendously and cruelly neglected. The medical professionals, if one can be so generous as to call them that, act as jailers rather than doctors, doling out dangerous psychotic drugs as punishment, paying no attention to safe dosage or patient care. Through this unseasonably cool fall, windows were left open to the damp and cold, creating prime opportunity for illness to spread among many of Bellevue’s patients. Most of the patients trapped within the institution were sent their by neglectful law enforcement or coercive family, and are in no need of any of the alleged services Bellevue claims to provide, only in need of some human compassion. 

In my time undercover behind the walls of Bellevue I was belittled, beaten, tied down, and drugged against my will to the point of hallucinations. It is my mission to see that reparations are made for the many women trapped in this horrendous mad house— no—prison, and I will not rest until the doors of Bellevue are closed on the cruelty within, permanently.   
*  
“Front page and ya ain’t even dead, I think the Sun’s goin’ soft.” Race whips through the door and lands on a chair across from Katherine at the kitchen table, skidding the creased paper across to her. “So what’s our next move?” He pulls a plate in front of him and forks several pancakes onto it. “We picketing?”

“I’m not sure yet. I have to see how people respond.” Katherine replies, smoothing the paper in front of her. 

“Broke my record! Fifty papes gone and it ain’t even nine yet!” JoJo bounds in next, with Romeo not far behind. “We’s gonna be rich!”

“I suppose I should have made more breakfast.” Katherine rolls her eyes as they join the table.

“I thought you might be saying that.” Clara says, pushing the door open with her shoulder, her hands full with a tray of bacon and eggs. “Davey’s on his way up with another batch, Specs and Henry were down the block.” 

“You mean downstairs-“ Finch chimes in from the door, Elmer and Crutchie behind him. “Grab the other end of the sofa will ya?” Finch nudges Elmer to help him flip the sofa to face the table.

“Should a known you savages woulda been here bright an’ early.” Jack shakes his head as he steps out of the bedroom. 

“Kate made the front page.” Race informs him between bites of pancake. “Again.” 

“Course she did, what else’d you expect?” Katherine reaches for his hands and he winds around her for a kiss. “Quiet breakfast for two—“ He mumbles, half-disappointed.  
“Maybe someday.” She grins at him. 

“Not if ya got these rats lyin’ around” Race laughs, throwing a rogue elbow in Romeo’s direction.

“Yeah, and you ain’t one?” Jack jibes back. “Get outta my chair.” Jack tips the chair back far enough for Race to nearly lose his balance, and sends him spiraling into Davey, who narrowly escapes dumping the tray of food onto the floor and eliciting a roar of laughter clumsily sliding it onto the table. 

“Alright everyone settle down.” Race say, determined to restore his cool façade. “All of you raise your glasses” he waits until the clatter of glasses and mugs are in the air. “To the bravest-

“and stupidest-“ Jack adds, earning him an elbow in the stomach from Davey. 

“To the bravest, stupidest, most terrifying woman any of us ever had the pleasure of knowin’. Changin’ the world one damn crazy article at a time.” Race lifts his glass higher towards Katherine. “We’re here to help.”

“And for the food.” Finch snickers.

“And that too.” Race laughs. “To our star reporter, Katherine.” 

“To Katherine.” Her family echoes. 

“Proud as hell of you sweetheart.” Jack says. “Even if it was the worse stunt you ever pulled.”

“So far.” Clara mumbles. 

“I heard that.” Katherine quips.

“It was hell of an article.” Davey says. “And whatever it takes to move forward we’re gonna do. Right fellas?” A chorus of agreement came from them, albeit harmonized by cutlery and full mouths. 

“We’s got your back the Miss Katherine. We’ll sell a million papes t’ get the word out.” Crutchie promises. 

“Soon as breakfast’s done we’re back at it fellas.” Race informs them, all business. 

“I’ll keep an ear out at the hospital, let you know if there’s anyone we need to worry about.” Clara offers.

“We’ll see ya’ll back here for supper then.” Jack says. “Till then just sell as much as ya can.” The boys salute in agreement. “Well get goin’ then!” 

A flurry of energy and exuberance leaves the apartment, Davey promising to drop by and help with cooking supper for them all, and Clara rattling off a list of society women she’ll personally show the piece to. Last to leave is Race with a tip of his hat. “We’ll make ya proud Kate.” 

“You boys always do.” She replies, but only so Jack can here. 

“How you holdin’ up?” He asks her, his hand reaching reflexively towards hers. 

“Glad it’s written. Ready to get started on what’s coming next.” She stifles a yawn, hoping he won’t notice it.

“How about a nap before we take on the whole city?” He phrases it as a question, but it lands like a plea.

“I should start drafting a speech—“

“Katherine.”

“But I think that can wait an hour or so.”

“That’s my girl.” Jack helps her up from her chair and steals a quick kiss. 

“Wake me if I’m not up by noon?”

“Whatever you need sweetheart. Whatever you need.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most likely the penultimate chapter my friends. Comments welcome. Begging for the final chapter, not so much.


	30. Chapter 30

“Bellevue closed for good!”

“Kelly closes Mad House!”

“Roosevelt launches state-wide investigation!”

The man chuckles to himself as he hears the various headlines echoing along the street, remembering well the not so distant time past where these boys didn’t know if they’d have a headline to sell without that young woman’s work. Jack and Katherine Kelly, now that’s a pair no one would have imagined, but after the life he’d led, love was the last thing to surprise him about people.

“Excuse me, young lady, might I get one of those newspapers?”

“Sure mister, two cents.” The girl’s too busy digging in her canvas bag to look into her customers face.

“Here’s a dime, you keep it.” That gets her attention quickly enough.

“Gee Mister, thanks!” She looks up from the ground. “Wait a minute, ain’t you-“ She stops quickly, not wanting to be rude and have the stranger demand his change.

“You’re quite a clever girl, aren’t you?” He grins, putting her at ease. The man kneels down so he could meet her gaze face to face. “Might you be able to tell me where I could find the Mr. and Mrs. Kelly?”

“Are they in trouble?” The girl asks, her guard quickly back up.

“Not at all dear, I’m an old friend.”

“Glory, I thought Romeo was pullin’ my leg about that.” The girl says. “They live on the corner, top floor, last door on the left.” She points in the direction the man should head as she spoke. “I’m pretty sure they’s home, Katherine took the day off on account a’ the good news, and Jack’s usually home by now anyways.”

“And what’s your name little lady?”

“Bernadine. ‘Cept most everyone calls me Bernie.”

“Well Bernie, you’ve been most helpful. You keep up the good work now.”

“I sure will.” The girl hitched her bag higher on her shoulder. “Thanks again for the dime!”

The man chuckled to himself as she ran off, and continued on his way to the end of the block.

*

“Mrs. Kelly has once again hung our city’s dirty laundry out in full view of the state, and word is quickly spreading on a national level. This famous, or infamous, depending what side of town you’re on, muckraker has a long history of providing inconvenient truths to our front pages. If one thing can be said for the woman, she has gumption. Perhaps we all ought to stop waiting for our women to point out our faults, and start fixing the problems before that woman gets a hold of the stories lurking behind our closed doors.” Jack struggles not to laugh, his head in Katherine’s lap and the paper folded back on his chest. “Editorial by an anonymous friend. Well Bill sure went all out on this one didn’t he?”

“He warned me it was a doozy.” She rolled her eyes, still mindlessly running her hand through his hair. “I wish he’d have focused more on the women I featured.”

“Face it sweetheart, you’s a star. Folks love seein’ what kind of crazy you got comin’ next.”

“Well it certainly sells papers.” She agrees begrudgingly.

“I’d see the fellas sell a few less papes to see you outta trouble.” Jack says.

“I’ll be more careful next time.” She reaches the hand not occupied in his hair down to claim one of his, a silent statement promising _I’m here. I’m alright. I’m not going away again._ He lifts her hand to his lips and whispers a kiss against her palm, a language of relief and gratitude she needs no translation for. They stayed entwined like that, neither one ever fully believing that this, that they were a reality, and thus determined to wring every precious second of time together they could. Even within the oasis that was their apartment, free from a city full of expectations and rumors flying behind dainty white-gloved hands, there was still noise and commotion to answer to. Family though they may be, the newsies coming and going meant moments alone were rare enough, and given the whirlwind of the past six months since she’d initially presented this mad idea, neither were in any hurry to leave this one.

A knock on the door forces them to break their comfortable silence, and they share a perplexed look as Jack untangles himself from her. Any one of their friends, and even many of their acquaintances, knew the door was always open until at least sundown. Jack takes a peak out of the keyhole and his jaw drops in surprise.

“Who is it?” Katherine asks, smoothing her skirt in front of the sofa.

“You ain’t never gonna guess.” Jack says, opening the door.

“Mr. Kelly!” A voice Katherine recognizes instantly booms from the doorway. “Wonderful to see you again.” He reaches out to shake Jack’s hand.  

Jack accepts the gesture automatically, still processing who exactly has come calling unannounced to their apartment. “Pleasure’s mine, sir, always.”

“May I come in?” Governor Roosevelt asks. Jack steps aside to allow him to pass.

“Mrs. Kelly, a pleasure as always.” The governor shakes her hand warmly. “I apologize for calling unannounced, but I was in the neighborhood and hoped to congratulate you personally on the incredible work you’ve done.”

“I only did what I thought was right,” Katherine says, embarrassment creeping up her face in a glowing blush. “I know I can speak for the patients there, the women in particular, when I say thank you for beginning an investigation so quickly.”

“Mrs. Kelly,” Roosevelt says, taking on the tone of a parent preparing for a lecture, “when a flower has bloomed through the cracks in the street, it doesn’t merely lay wilted on the stone, it stretches further toward the sun. You’ve accomplished something truly remarkable, now is not the time for modesty.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Katherine smiles. “Thank you. Can I offer you a cup of coffee?”

“I think I just may take you up on that. Thank you.” Roosevelt smiles, perfectly at ease and gently amused at how off guard he’s caught them.

“Sorry we’s ain’t got much to offer-.” Jack shrugs.

“I’m sure those children must spend a great deal of time here,” Roosevelt waves off Jack’s small talk. “And I’m equally sure you’ve never once turned any of them down. May I?” He asks, gesturing to the sofa.

“You’re welcome here anytime too Gov, make yourself at home.” Jack replies, the simple acknowledgement of understanding putting him at ease.

“I must say I’m surprised at you young man,” Roosevelt tells him. “Letting your wife get locked in an institution, _that_ institution of all places-“

“Well, something you oughta know about us, is I don’t _let_ Katherine do nothin’. We ain’t like most other folks, we’re partners.” Jack informs him, a hint of pride in his voice. “Even if I didn’t want her to go, and I promise you I didn’t, I wasn’t about to tell her not to do somethin’ she believed in. That just ain’t how we are.”

“I had a feeling you two were going to keep on breaking rules,” Roosevelt says kindly. “Young people such as yourselves set an example for our future. You must be very proud of how well you lead this community.”

“They’re our family,” Katherine explains, returning with a tray topped with coffee mugs and fixings. “We all look out for each other, one way or another.”  


“If ya don’t mind me askin’ sir, how’d you know where we live?” Jack says this as the realization dawns on him that Governor Roosevelt is sitting in their living room stirring an entirely obscene amount of sugar into his coffee.

“A friend of yours gave me directions,” Roosevelt explains. “A girl by the name of Bernie.”

“Oh goodness,” Katherine laughs, “Bernie’ll have told have the city you’re here by now.”

“I’m sure there’ll be a crowd  downstairs waitin’ to see ya,” Jack shakes his head.

“Would that crowd be the same fine young people who helped you resolve the matter of the price of papers?”

“Most a them, yeah. Some a’ the older fellas got different jobs, we’s got some younger kids, like Bernie comin’ in.”

“Then I’d be happy to speak with them.” Roosevelt says definitively. “I’m sure they had just as much of a hand in spreading your cause as they did then.”

“I couldn’t have done it without them,” Katherine agrees enthusiastically. “Especially not without Jack.”

“As I told your husband before, you two are a fine example of a modern couple, working together to make this world a better place. I do hope you will continue your efforts for many years to come.”

“I think we can manage somethin’ Gov,” Jack says, taking hold of Katherine’s hand.

“It’s what we do best,” Katherine agrees, “find something that needs fixing, and fight until the job is done.”

Roosevelt raises his mug towards her, toasting in agreement. “Congratulations to you, Katherine Kelly, on a job very well done.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, for your patience with my updating schedule (lack there of), and for your dedication to this small but incredible fandom. I would love to hear your closing thoughts on the work, please please leave me a comment here or on tumblr. Thank you all again.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Nellie Bly's "Ten Days In a Mad House". Nellie Bly is the real world inspiration behind Katherine, so the idea came from research about her.


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